BY FILMMAKERS, FOR FILMMAKERS
We didn't study the problem from the outside; we lived it, and built something to change it
Moonshot Initiative started with a simple idea: what if women filmmakers had everything they needed to make a film together in one weekend? In 2017, co-founders Katrina Medoff and Tracy Sayre — two filmmakers who met at a networking event and became fast friends — volunteered their time to make it happen. Eight years and 41 short films later, Moonshot has grown into a full pipeline of programs serving thousands of women and gender-expansive creators. We're still run entirely by independent filmmakers who understand what emerging talent actually needs.​​​
OUR STAFF
Lean yet strong
Tracy Sayre
Co-Executive Director and Co-Founder
Tracy Sayre is an award-winning screenwriter and producer. Her first short film “Lily + Mara” screened on PBS and starred Meghann Fahy. Before Moonshot, she led Writers Work, a collaborive for NYC creative writers. She is the proud mom of two wonderful girls and she lives in Kingston.
Katrina Medoff
Co-Executive Director and Co-Founder
Katrina Medoff brings her background as an actor, writer and producer to Moonshot. For ten years, she served as the editor in chief of BORO, a magazine about her home neighborhood of Astoria, Queens. She loves embroidery, calligraphy, and anything else Jane Austen would have enjoyed.
Kendall Davis
Programs
Coordinator
Kendall Davis is a writer and comedian based in NYC and is a proud member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. Recently, Kendall was a fellow in the Native American Media Alliance's 8th Annual TV Writers Lab. Feel free to reach out to her with your favorite joke!
OUR BOARD
The industry leaders who guilde our mission
Traci Hays
Board President
Traci Hays is a DGA Award–nominated director known for crafting female-centric, genre-blending stories with a strong visual edge. She currently has two features slated for release in 2026 and her previous directing credits include On the Run, winner of four Telly Awards and landed on Tubi’s Most Liked List, as well as My Bloody Galentine and Blood, Sweat and Cheer.
Eden Martinez
Board Member
Eden Martinez (They/Them), is a latinx queer filmmaker, born and raised in New York City. Their work centers women, lgbt+ and POC folx through a jubilant and aesthetically harmoninstic lens, reflecting on themes of identity and intersectionality. Their directing credits include "After Closing" and "The Tower." They have also done commercial work for Google, Estee Lauder, and Verizon.
Christina Raia
Board Secretary
Christina Raia is a New York born and based writer/director of Indo-Caribbean descent who focuses on character-driven and socially conscious horror and comedy. She is currently in development with Lilly Wachowski (The Matrix) on her next feature.
Ama Anane
Board Member
The product of Jamaican and Ghanaian parents, Ama Anane grew up in Papua New Guinea and Las Vegas. Her screenwriting, stand-up, and poetry explore the identities and experiences that both divide us and make us whole. Ama is currently part of the NBCUniversal TV Writing Program, was named one of the Austin Film Festival’s 25 Screenwriters to Watch in 2025, and is a 2024 Moonshot TV Pilot Accelerator Fellow. She is currently staffed on a Peacock workplace dramatic comedy and will make her directorial debut in 2026 with a short dark comedy titled Cottonmouth.
Aisha Besson
Board Treasurer
Aisha is an accountant with over 20 years of experience in small to mid-level organizations. She has a proven ability to execute and excel in finance and HR related areas. With a solid understanding of GAAP requirements, she is equipped to give recommendations on many issues that arise in an organization.
Jasmine Russ
Board Member
Jasmine is the Vice President at Fabel Entertainment (Bosch, The Killing, Interrogation) where she specializes in both development and boots-on-the-ground production. At Fabel, Jasmine has set up projects with multiple buyers including Amazon, Netflix, AMC and FreeVee, as well as working with the team to shepherd and grow the development slate across a wide array of genres.
Janet Graham Borba
Board Member
Janet is Executive Vice President of Production, for HBO & Max, responsible for supervising production, post and production operations on all HBO and Max Original programming including Succession, House of The Dragon, and Euphoria.
Maia Molina-Schaefer
Board Member
Maia is a gender equity advocate, storyteller, and military veteran dedicated to uplifting women's voices and creating pathways for women and girls to become changemakers. As Senior Director of Strategic Initiatives at Amplify Her Foundation, she leverages her visionary leadership to advance community building, thought leadership, and organizational growth. She combines decades of military experience with her passion for storytelling to drive meaningful change in the fight for gender equity.
OUR READERS
These seasoned writers help us select the scripts we send to industry judges
Ramou Sarr
Submission Reviewer
Ramou Sarr is a writer in Los Angeles. She created, wrote, and starred in the web series “Brunch,” about two Black women pondering their neuroses over eggs and mimosas. She has written several personal narrative essays, two Glamour magazine cover stories, and one creepy short story about a missing Midwest teen. She has a background in indigent criminal defense and is passionate about telling the stories of dynamic, complicated, and often messy women.
Rati Gupta
Submission Reviewer
Rati Gupta is a rare breed of professional hip-hop dancer turned actor, writer and comedian best known for her roles on Hulu’s “Future Man”and CBS’s “The Big Bang Theory.” A three-time champion of The Moth StorySLAM, Rati loves retelling tales of her outlandish experiences on stage and teaches workshops in personal storytelling. Her screenplays have advanced to the quarterfinals of the Launch Pad and Diverse Voices competitions, and the web series she wrote and starred in, “Heart Baby Eggplant,” won the Audience Award at Dances With Films.
Brooke Solomon
Submission Reviewer
Brooke Solomon grew up as a bisexual Lebanese girl on a farm in rural New Hampshire, before graduating from Emerson College. She specializes in intersectional stories, action, mythology and anything world building. Her work has placed in the Austin Film Festival, Big Break and the SeriesFest National Women Writing Competition. Brooke also co-hosts The Queer Quadrant, a podcast focused on LGBTQ+ representation in blockbusters. She is currently developing original pilots for The Lab and Panoramic Media.
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Makana Lani
Submission Reviewer
Makana Lani is a queer filmmaker based in New York.
Her grounded queer horror feature script, Contingent, is part of the Black List’s 2022 Latinx List, and through this initiative, she received a blind script deal with Netflix.
Makana’s work explores the intersections of identity, love, and loss through character-driven narratives. She crafts stories that delve into universal struggles while centering queer and marginalized voices. Moonshot was lucky to have her as the previous social media director for four years.
OUR VISION
We have seen firsthand how powerful it is to bring women and gender-expansive people together to make art. The connections made through our programs lead to stable careers.
We envision a world where women get hired just as frequently as men, a world where gender stereotypes are no longer expressed on screen, and a world where young kids can see themselves and all their potential.
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The vision starts with a radical solution. Build a pipeline for women and gender-expansive filmmakers so that they have the experience and network to climb the industry ladder and have a say in how gender is represented on the screen.
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Read more about our vision on our Theory of Change page.
HOW ARE WE DIFFERENT?
Our commitment to representation goes beyond gender. We are committed to ensuring that at least 50% of our crews, judges, and workshop guests are people of color. Over 30% of our participants identify as LGBTQ+.
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We are passionate about breaking down the financial barriers that keep underrepresented voices silent. With the help of our donors, we are able to offer financial assistance and low-cost memberships for anyone who's looking to build their networks and reels.
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When you participate in our programs, you become a part of our community. We never stop advocating for you. We have connected filmmakers to jobs, collaborators, and opportunities long after a program is done.
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